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Theme from Mission: Impossible
"Theme from ''Mission: Impossible" is the theme tune of the TV series ''Mission: Impossible (1966–1973). The theme was written and composed by Argentine composer Lalo Schifrin and has since gone on to appear in several other works of the Mission: Impossible franchise, including the 1988 TV series, the film series and the video game series. Overview The theme is written in a 5/4 time signature which Schifrin has jokingly explained as being "for people who have five legs". However, a more likely explanation is that Schifrin started from the Morse Code for M.I. which is dah dah dit dit. If a dit is one beat and a dah is one and a half beats then this gives a bar of five beats exactly matching the underlying rhythm. The original single release peaked at No. 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and 19 on the magazine's Adult Contemporary chart in 1967 (Leonard Nimoy, before playing Paris in Mission Impossible in 1969, also covered the theme two years earlier). In 2010, a fictionalized account of Lalo Schifrin's creation of the Mission: Impossible tune was featured in a Lipton TV commercial aired in a number of countries around the world. Track listings ;7" Single Side A: # "Mission: Impossible" - 2:31 Side B: # "Jim on the Move" - 3:12 Charts Peak positions Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. version In 1996, the theme was remade by U2 members Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. for the soundtrack to the film. Chart performance It became a hit in the United States, peaking at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and receiving a gold certification, selling 500,000 copies there. It also peaked at number 1 in Hungary, Iceland and Finland, number 2 in Australia and Ireland, and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. Critical reception The Gavin Report wrote about the song: "Those not familiar wiith this piece of music A) are under five years of age, B) have been living with Theodore Kaczynski for the past 25 years, or C) are not aware of television. This interpretation by half of U2 will he heard by millions of moviegoers expected to see what's been anticipated as the film of the summer. Try cranking this up and driving around the hills of San Francisco! Very cool." Track listings CD Single Charts Weekly charts Year-end charts Cover versions One cover version was recorded by French No Wave artist Lizzy Mercier Descloux on her 1979 album, Press Color. The theme's melodies form the basis of Limp Bizkit's 2000 single "Take A Look Around", which was recorded for the soundtrack of the second film. Russian ethnic band Bugotak recorded a Russian-language rap song with ethnic Siberian instruments based on "Take a Look Around", the theme and "Empty Spaces" by Pink Floyd, entitled "Missiya Maadai-kara nevypolnima". Brave Combo covered the theme as a "deep groove cumbia" on their 2008 album, The Exotic Rocking Life. In January 2013, violinist and dancer Lindsey Stirling and The Piano Guys, Steven Sharp Nelson (cello) and Jon Schmidt (piano), released their interpretation of the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". The arrangement is true to the Lalo Schifrin original, but also employs a passage with a liberal use of the Piano Sonato in C by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart K. 545 first movement and a self-composed passage to end the piece. The arrangement was introduced with a music video having a comedic cloak and dagger theme. Two official copies of the video have garnered nearly 5 million views on Lindsey Stirling's YouTube channel and over 10 million views on The Piano Guys YouTube channel as of August 2015. Category:Compositions by Lalo Schifrin Category:1966 songs Category:1967 singles Category:1996 singles Category:Dot Records singles Category:Mission: Impossible music Category:Songs written for films Category:Television drama theme songs Category:1960s instrumentals Category:Number-one singles in Finland Category:Number-one singles in Hungary